The current invention relates to an apparatus and method for drilling glass. More specifically, the current invention relates to a machine adapted to drill a hole in a glass article by drilling into the upper and lower surfaces of the article in opposing directions.
In manufacturing thin-walled glass articles, such as the covers for electrical watt-hour meters, it is commonly necessary to drill several holes through the walls of the article in a high speed production line. In order to avoid cracking or chipping the glass, drilling through such thin-walled articles is typically done by using two opposing drills, each of which drills through one-half the thickness of the glass from a different side. Such drills are usually fed into the glass by moving them linearly along a slide. Unfortunately, since such slides are in close proximity to the drilling site, the cooling water which floods the drilling site often causes corrosion of the slide. In addition, the abrasive glass dust produced by the drilling contaminates the slide and causes wear in its mating components. As a result of this corrosion and wear, the slide becomes loose and requires frequent maintenance to maintain stability of the drill.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a drilling machine in which the moving parts which allowed the drills to feed into the workpiece were remote from the drilling site.